Liverpool hoping history does not repeat ahead of Crystal Palace's visit 

Jürgen Klopp - Liverpool hoping history does not repeat ahead of Crystal Palace's visit
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp will welcome his predecessor Roy Hodgson to Anfield on Saturday Credit: Getty Images

Liverpool could be forgiven for feeling a twinge of anxiety at the prospect of facing Crystal Palace this weekend.

Aside from being the last visiting team to win a Premier League game at Anfield – in April 2017 – memories linger of Palace’s role in ending the club’s last title bid of 2014, an infamous 3-3 draw.

Roy Hodgson’s recent victory at Manchester City served as a useful reminder of his side’s ability to bloody the nose of the elite – the cruel joke on Merseyside after that result being it was ex-Liverpool manager Hodgson’s most positive contribution to the Anfield cause. The Palace’s coach’s brief stint at the club is not fondly remembered.

Jürgen Klopp admitted he has not overseen a level of surveillance of Palace games to rival Marcelo Bielsa’s level of scrutiny, but the City fixture was enough to act as a warning.

“I watched 51 games,” Klopp joked. “No, I saw [the City] game in particular. They scored a beautiful goal. Hopefully Townsend will not do that again,” said Klopp.

“It helps it was against City rather than the other way around [against Liverpool]. I watched three different types of games, and at least two away games but one home game as well because it gives you a better picture of what they do. If you let Crystal Palace play, they are really good.” 

Klopp’s first defeat as Liverpool manager shortly after his appointment in 2015 was also against Palace. Much has changed since Klopp spoke of his shock at the lack of belief in his own stadium that day, his side now seeking to extend a 31-game unbeaten Anfield streak in the Premier League.

With Andy Robertson the latest to commit his future to the club, Klopp is reassured this year’s title bid will be the first of many.

“If the players didn’t believe in the project and didn’t enjoy living and working here then they wouldn’t stay,” he said.

"If we can keep these boys together, we are in the middle of our development, so it’s good news for Liverpool. These 17-18 players plus the really young boys, that’s the squad of the future. Where will we be in two or three years? I have no idea. But the age group is good. This season will not finish our development. It doesn’t look like we’ll lose any key player,

“Keeping all of them together would mean we would have a better chance of making the next step next season than we had in previous years.

“That is what our owners gave us the opportunity to do. Buying new players is expensive, signing new players is expensive, extending contracts with top players is expensive. For that you need the money side of life. It is all good. On the other side, other clubs pay good money as well.

“We always try to do the next step and it looks like we did it, but I only want to talk about this season. It is the most important we ever played because it is the one we are in. But there will come another one and we have to make sure we are ready for that as well.

“The progress we made so far, I am not interested in, I am only interested in the progress we still have to make. There’s a lot to do and everybody can see that.”

 Liverpool must check on Gini Wijnaldum’s fitness due to a knee injury, but Joel Matip is available.

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